Hong Kong, Day 1, my first sight seeing

I had some trouble sleeping, both because of jet lag and excitement! I had been nervous that I'd be so tired that I'd oversleep and miss meeting Jubilee's social worker, Janice, at 8am. Thank you adrenaline, I got up bright and early, got dressed, packed my camera, and grabbed some breakfast at the hotel restaurant-fried rice, steamed buns, fried potato wedges, and coffee.

My view during breakfast

Then I wandered down the street to fill my Octopus card at the 7-11. The Octopus card is a travel card, accepted by the subway and buses, as well as a cash card that can be used to buy food and other items at 7-11 and fast food restaurants. I wandered back across the street to the hotel. My first taste of the busy Hong Kong Streets. The cars are fast, there's no such thing as personal space, but at the same time nobody looks at anyone else.



I met Janice in the lobby, and after a quick introduction, we were on our way. We walked a couple of blocks to a subway station, rode for a couple of stops, and then walked from there to a bus station. The bus took us up a winding mountain road. We got off right by the orphanage and walked inside.

A sign on the bus...I think it means don't eat on the bus?

The kids were out on their weekly field trip, so before getting to the exciting part of the day, I had meetings with some caretakers and therapists. Everyone had nice things to say about her sweet, social personality and that she is always willing to try things. I was supposed to get a tour of the orphanage next, but they were doing a monthly cleaning with strong chemicals while the kids were out for the morning, and since the meetings went pretty quickly, we had some spare time, so Janice and I set out to see The Peak. The Peak Tram was about a 5 minute walk from the orphanage, mostly stairs because we were already up the mountain a little way. The hill is so steep!

This picture cracks me up because of the angle we are at on the tram, it makes the buildings look tilted :)

The view from the top!

We went to a restaurant on the peak for lunch, I had a delicious udon stir fry, and Hong Kong style milk tea. The table was set with chopsticks, and when Janice said something in Chinese and pointed at them, the waiter ran off to get what I assumed was a fork. I said "it's ok, I can use chopsticks." She said "Oh, are you sure?" and then after watching me use them for a few minutes, complimented me on how good I am with chopsticks. Eric and I both learned as kids, but apparently not everyone does, even those who travel to Hong Kong.

We did some shopping, then got back on the tram. It was almost time to meet my daughter!

My Hong Kong trip-travel

I've been recording my experience in Hong Kong, but between adjusting to the time zone and the new addition and wanting to make sure I don't miss any pictures or details, It has been slow going. I'll get it all up here though!

Somewhere over Canada I think

 Eric and the kids dropped me off at the airport a couple of hours before my flight. I was prepared for long lines and a stressful trip through security, until I got there and realized travelling without kids makes it a piece of cake! The lines were short, and I was at the gate in no time. I felt a little silly pushing a stroller with no kid in sight, and everyone at security wanted to know where my child was, but I got lots of congratulations when I told them that my child is in Hong Kong :)

I left the morning after the Malaysian plane disappeared, and it seemed like it was being covered on every tv in the airport...which added a bit if stress to the fact that I was already flying by myself for the first time, and flying to Asia for the first time. I hoped it meant that the pilots would be paying even more attention that day. I grabbed some breakfast and ate it while eavesdropping on a young man (a phrase that makes me feel old!) in a military uniform who was saying goodbye to his mom, sister, and girlfriend before being gone for a few months. Then, since I would be spending 18+ hours on planes, I took my empty stroller and did laps up and down the hall, ignoring all of the tv coverage of the missing plane.

The first plane ride was short, just to Chicago. My layover in Chicago was short, but I wasn't too worried...how far apart could the gates be? Well, if the people in Detroit thought I looked silly walking with an empty stroller, they should have seen me in Chicago! I got off the plane (where I was sitting in the back, so I was one of the last people off) and asked the lady at the desk where the next gate was, and she told me how to get to the shuttle, then looked at my ticket again and said "although running might get you there faster..." Rather than standing around and hoping the shuttle got me there, I decided to put my carry-on in the stroller and run. Through one side of the airport, down an escalator, through a multicolored tunnel, up another escalator, and through the other side of the airport to an empty gate. I was the last one on the plane, and got to walk past everyone already seated on the plane to my row, and make the 2 guys get up so I could climb over their stuff to my window seat. I was hot and sweaty and out of breath, but I was on the plane! I had done everything I needed to do for the next 16 hours.

The second plane ride was one of the things I had been dreading about the trip. 16 hours on a plane! My carry-on was packed with magazines and snacks, but thanks to technology, most of the trip was spent watching the on-demand personal tv attached to the back of every seat. I don't know how people did it before that feature! They did the drink service, then served dinner, and then simulated night by turning all the lights off. The plane flew up through Canada and then down through Russia, which meant flying over a lot of barren, cracked land, which was kind of cool.

I didn't sleep much, with my back it is hard to lean against something and sleep comfortably, but I wasn't too worried about it because I'd be arriving in Hong Kong in the evening, so I'd get a full night's sleep when I got there.

The long flight really wasn't too bad-there was a halfway point where I felt like we'd been flying forever and the minutes were just inching by and I was counting the rest of the flight by the number of 22 minute sitcoms I could watch. I did get to watch Frozen, which was fun, and cute enough to order for Journey's birthday.

Finally I got to Hong Kong and made the long trek to customs, then to the place I needed to check in for my hotel shuttle. There was about a half hour wait before the bus came, so I sat down and just took in the new sights and smells of an airport on the other side of the world.

 The bus ride was about 30 minutes, and even though it was dark out, the city was all lit up and there was lots to look at. I finally arrived at the hotel, checked in, and a bellboy took my luggage up to the room for me. I settled in, made some tea, and attempted to sleep-I would meet my baby in 12 hours!

Happy Tooth Day!

On February 28th, Jeb lost his first tooth! Slightly traumatic, but he was really excited about his Tooth Day celebration! We don't do the visiting magical creatures thing, so no tooth fairy at our house-and we didn't want to do gifts for something that just happens whether we celebrate it or not-so I set out to find our own tradition for this coming of age moment. It was harder to find than I thought-I figured there would be other things to do, but unless we wanted to throw the tooth on the roof like some cultures do, it was slim pickins to find an alternative to the tooth fairy. So, I improvised! Since he lost the tooth just before bed time, I gave him an 'I lost a tooth!' sticker that night, and then the next day we had his Tooth Day celebration.

 We started with tooth shaped pancakes

Followed by watching this VeggieTales song a few times and singing Happy Tooth Day to Jeb (if you watch it, it will get stuck in your head!)

Then we played a tooth game-pin the tooth on the mouth!

You never know when you attempt to create a new tradition if it is going to stick, but this was so simple, yet so fun for the whole family that I think it's a keeper!

February Recap

With the weather being so cold, we've been getting creative with some fun indoor activities!

The girls had a reading party with their dolls

 Vivi mastered a major skill-folding socks! Her fine motor skills are way behind, so this was a big deal! We had to silently shush big brother from across the room when he tried to point out that her first pair of folded socks don't actually match, but since then she's been matching and folding her own socks with such pride :)

 The weather was finally (briefly) warm enough to make good packing snow, and Jeb made his first snowman of the year

 And in a big finish to the month, Jeb lost his first tooth on the 28th! It was a little bit traumatic even though it just popped right out-that was the best smile I could get out of him. I had to promise he could keep his tooth, and that I'd take a picture and he could keep the picture.  :)

Valentine's Day

How cute are my little valentines? Very soon there will be a 4th adorable face in that bunch, how will I stand all the cuteness??

The beginning of our Valentine's day was spent at the homeschool hub. The winter semester finally started after a snow day delayed it a week. Jeb is taking an acting class and a very cool science class, and the girls are taking a music/dancing/acting class and a literature/craft class. They are really enjoying their classes so far. 

We were going to have a very low key Valentine's day, Eric had just finished working for the day, the kids had had a late lunch, so we were going to run to Target. But Vivi had other plans-she wanted Nana and Bapa to watch the kids so we could have some mommy and daddy time-which was her way of saying she wanted some Nana and Bapa time. She has just started being ok with us leaving her with them, so if she's volunteering for us to leave her, we try to do it! Of course my parents were happy to watch the kids, and Eric and I had an impromptu date at Target...where we bought some birthday presents for Journey, some things for the home school room, and Eric needed more deodorant. Hot date, right? 

The next day was our planned Valentine's Day out, my parents had already planned on watching the kids, and Eric and I went to Red Lobster for dinner. The first time we were both at a restaurant with no kids in 5 years...since before Vivi was born! And with Jubilee coming home soon, it was also the last, so we had to make it count. We ordered way too much food! All the good stuff-fried calamari, snow crab legs, Eric got a pasta dish with scallops and shrimp, and I got lobster tails. We were stuffed! Then we walked around the mall for a little while before going to pick up our kiddos. Maybe not the most romantic date, but it was absolutely perfect for us <3

First sled of the year

Hopefully this post works-January recap

Since replacing our trusty old computer, I feel like I'm constantly fighting with the new computer to let me blog! Sometimes it won't even let me begin, and other times I have a bunch of pictures and a few paragraphs written and then it decides to quit on me. So frustrating!

There hasn't really been much to blog about-most of January was spent cooped up inside and I took very few pictures. Here are the only share-worthy pictures I took:

One day that it wasn't too cold, they got to spend a few minutes helping daddy shovel

 And then gathered some fresh snow to eat with maple syrup

 We celebrated 'Happy Jebby Day', Jeb's 2 year anniversary of being an American and member of our home. As usual, we celebrated with a big Ethiopian feast-his favorite!

 And just a cute one of Eric and the girls wearing their babies in slings. I'm not sure why Journey's glasses are off but Vivi is wearing glasses haha!